340 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Januaky 20, 1898. 



MISCELLANEOUS SEASON- 

 ABLE HINTS. 



Azaleas. 



I have often reminded you to rub off 

 the young growths of the azaleas. It 

 has to be done more than once during the 

 winter. If you don't the growth of wood 

 ■will take precedence over the bud, which 

 will shrivel up. Some varieties are more 

 liable to do this than others. \ erv;eneana 

 is one of the worst, but all need watch- 

 ing. 



Genistas. 



It is too late to do any more stopping 

 of genistas txcept where a straggling 

 growth is made. They are generally 

 rather early for Piaster, at least when 

 Easter comes "medium to late, "(this year 

 April loth) so keep them as cool as possi- 

 ble without freezing for the next six weeks. 

 They are not a good house plant, drop- 

 ping flowers and leaves quickly, but are 

 very pretty and attractive and will last 

 quite as long as fifty cents worth of cut 

 flowers. 



Dutch Hyacinths. 



You can now bring in some of your first 

 potted Dutch hyacinths and in a night 

 temperature of 6o° they will be entirel)' 

 satisfactor)-. Some varieties are better 

 adapted for earl\' forcing than others, 

 but few of us, even if we grow thousands 

 and import them under name, keep varie- 

 ties separate, so to mention particular va- 

 rieties would be useless. Don't attempt 

 any hot-box business with them as you 

 would tulips in December. They would 

 be best with a subdued light till the spike 

 is well up, then give them full daylight. 



Hydrangeas. 



Hydrangeas are forced for Easter sales, 

 but there is so much "force" about the 

 operation, and when sold so .soon col- 

 lapse that we can get along without them. 

 They bring vexation and trouble into our 

 otherwise quiet life. A plant that will 

 look well for two weeks, such as an 

 azalea, is sold with a clear conscience, but 

 one that wilts over night, never to be re- 

 vived, can be dispensed with. Those who 

 find it profitable to get hydrangeas in 

 flower at Easter will continue to 

 do so, whatever is said. If we 

 don't approve of them as an early 

 spring plant, we value them highly 

 later on and a few brought into heat now 

 will flower in May without much forcing. 

 Look out for red spider, they attack the 

 flowers as well as the leaves. Plenty of 

 syringing will keep these little pests 

 down. Of late years the hydrangea has 

 been much asked for as a plant in a large 

 pot or tub for a veranda plant. Now those 

 that have been in the least forced are bv 

 no means fit for that puqjose. If fully out 

 in the greenhouse their period of beauty 

 will be brief out of doors, so if you have 

 any large plants and you wish to sell 

 them for a good price and bring you 

 credit, keep them as dormant as possible; 

 under a bench wont do nor will a warm 

 cellar. A cellar where there was some 

 light and the temperature down to. about 

 freezing would be the ideal place for 



them. A very handsome pair of hydran- 

 geas, that for years ornamented one of our 

 beautiful Delaware avenue lawns, were 

 wintered in the basement of a large coach 

 house and stable, where no artificial heat 

 was used, and not brought out till begin- 

 ning of May, or till danger of frost was 

 passed. Those lifted and potted last fall 

 will need no more shifting this spring. 

 Larger plants carried over summer in pots 

 will want a shift, or if that is not conven- 

 ient, a heavy mulch. Of all gross feeding 

 plants or shrubs the florist hamlles, the 

 hydrangea takes the cake, or rather the 

 soil, manure and water. When the old 

 plants are starting to grow, as they now 

 are unless kept very cool, is the best time 

 to take cuttings for your next year's 

 flowering plants. Short, stout growths 

 make the best plants, and the sooner they 

 are rooted the larger plants you will have 

 for next fall. There is always a number 

 of young shoots springing from the bot- 

 tom of the plant which would not give 

 flowers, but make excellent material for 

 cuttings. Don't wait till .\pril and take 

 the top of a long, blind shoot; they make 

 poor plants. 



Calceolarias. 



The calceolaria is not as much grown 

 now-a-days as it should be. What cheap 

 plant is there more attractive? They are 

 bound to sell. Be.side that much-grow'U 

 plant the cineraria they are an aristocrat. 

 If you have any coming on take care of 

 them. Why you don't see them more 

 often is because they need to be well un- 

 derstood. I would not say they are a difti- 

 cult plant to grow; few plants are when 

 you know how, but they are much easier 

 ruined than a cattleya, a croton, or a 

 Caryota urens. Those I see now, dail}', 

 are in 5-inch pots. They want a low tem- 

 perature; 40° at night will do well. When 

 you see the dew glistening on the woolly 

 stirface of their leaves, the plants are in 

 their right element. Like the cine- 

 raria, an over-watering will kill them; 

 but they don't want to be starved for 

 water for all that. Greenfly delights to 

 pasture beneath their handsome leaves 

 and attains its maximum .size while suck- 

 ing its juices. A heavy fumigation, par- 

 ticularh" if they are not accustomed to it, 

 will burn the leaves and ruin the plants 

 beyond recover}'. But if you have al- 

 lowed the fly to get a foothold, you must 

 smoke, but do it often and mildly. Fresh 

 tobacco stems among the pots will help 

 greatly to keep down the aphis. If you 

 don't want to fumigate, vaporize the Rose 

 Leaf Extract with the cake dish and red- 

 hot iron. I have never seen the most 

 tender leaf or frond in the least injured 

 by it. 



Cyclamens. 



If you want first-class cyclamens by 

 next Christmas you must not neglect the 

 young plants now. They should be i/roivn 

 from the day the seed germinates till they 

 are in flower. Those sown the end of 

 September or early in October will now 

 be in 2 or 2 N inch pots. Keep them near 

 the light. If you have a light bench it 

 will do, if not, a shelf a foot or two from 

 the glass will suit them well. Fifty-five 

 degrees is cool enough for the little plants. 

 They should be in a house where you 

 weekly fumigate, for greenfly is very fond 



of the cyclamen at all stages, especially 

 the young growths. When the roots are 

 showing plentifully don't be afraid to give 

 them another shift. Never let them get 

 stunted or stunted they will remain. 



Pelargoniunis. 



I notice a few pelargoniums that are 

 now showing bud and will easily be in 

 full flower by early April. Give them the 

 lightest, driest, and airiest bench you 

 have and a temperature of 55° at night. 

 These are plants that were cut down last 

 September. Plants from cuttings taken 

 from these old plants when cut down are 

 now in 4-inch pots and on a cool bench 

 kept rather on the dry side. They will 

 make their best growth in March and 

 April and flower in May. 



Harrisii Lilies — Staking. 



V e have just completed tying or rather 

 staking our Harrisii lilies, which we 

 think are just right for Easter. When a 

 lily, however strong it may be, is one 

 foot above the pot it should have its 

 stake. In handling, I have seen ttiem 

 broken off at the top of the bulb and if 

 thpy get long and heavy will sway to one 

 side, and when straightened up there is a 

 cruel operation performed. You will 

 hear a cracking at top of bulb; this can't 

 be good for the health of the lily. As it 

 must be done some time, tie them when 

 the plants are small. It will be done in 

 half the time. You can guess the neces- 

 sary height of the stake by the growth of 

 the plant. If your stake should be a few 

 inches too long it is easily cut off, much 

 easier than splicing a piece on. Staking 

 and tying plants, like potting and shift- 

 ing and some other of our operations, 

 are purely mechanical, unlike watering 

 which is only slightly mechenical and 

 largely mental; admitting of course that 

 to be expert at a mechanical operation, 

 you must when learning have exercised 

 considerable brains, but when expertness 

 is once acquired it is no longer a tax on 

 your thinking powers, but comes to you 

 as easy as the proverbial "falling off a 

 log" or that social function which de- 

 mands the observation, "Here's to ye". 

 Yet it is strange that men do not observe. 



I have seen gardeners, who should 

 know better, stake plants very crudely. 

 It requires a little practice, in fact a good 

 deal to put the stake into a lily pot per- 

 fectly perjiendicular as it should be. 

 Then again they will ram the stake down 

 close to the bulb, when it not only looks 

 better, but is better two inches away. 

 Then they will tie the lily stalk right to 

 the stake, hardly allowing room for the 

 stem to grow in size. No need of it, a 

 play of au inch or two has a better ap- 

 pearance and much more natural. 



Raffia is much better for a tying ma- 

 terial than any string of whatever text- 

 ure or color. Some florists don't seem to 

 know that a very small strand of raffia 

 is strong enough to hang a man, so a very 

 thin piece will hold a lily in place and a 

 twist between the thumb and finger rolls 

 it up into a thread, making it still 

 stronger and neater. I have seen some 

 leave the raffia in a broad band round 

 the stake and plant, having the appear- 

 ance of a sore throat, with a bandage 

 round it. 



